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Fuel Delivery Turns Upside Down

DERBY – A routine oil delivery at a home in Derby yesterday turned out to be anything but routine when the truck slid off a private driveway and tipped over.Derby Line Fire Chief Craig Ellam identified the driver as Paul Gervais of Irving Oil in Littleton, N.H. The Derby Line Fire Department responded to the scene around 11:22 a.m. Property owner David LaBelle arrived at his home, located on Route 111, just after the truck flipped over. LaBelle, who is on automatic oil delivery service, was not aware he would be getting an oil delivery and didn’t prepare his driveway. Normally the driver would deliver oil if the driveway was clear. If it is not clear, the company notifies him of a pending delivery. “There were a couple of layers of snow and ice,” LaBelle said of his driveway. The driver told him that he made it up fine but the truck slid as he started to leave. The driver, said LaBelle, went off the driveway to “save it” on the lawn. However, the truck sunk.There was just a trickle of oil and apparently none got on the lawn, LaBelle said. Firefighters were able to capture 99 percent of the 1,900 gallons that were on the truck. Fire Chief Craig Ellam said the rear of the truck sustained some sheet metal damage.Company officials declined to comment. A sand truck with the Town of Derby written on the door arrived to sand the driveway prior to crews removing the oil truck.Grenier's Truck Shop removed the truck from the scene. The company first towed the truck to its shop in Charleston and then to the Irving office in Littleton, N.H.